http://programmer.ie/tags/collective-motion/ Recent content in Collective Motion on Programmer.ie: Modern AI programming Hugo en-us Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:48:00 +0100 http://programmer.ie/books/digital-life/13-is-it-really-reproducing/ Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:48:00 +0100 http://programmer.ie/books/digital-life/13-is-it-really-reproducing/ <p>Something strange happened while we were looking at Outlier.</p> <p>We had started with a question about reproduction.</p> <p>Then I watched the simulation.</p> <p>And I thought:</p> <blockquote> <p>That looks like flocking.</p></blockquote> <p>That is exactly the kind of observation that can get us into trouble.</p> <p>Humans are extraordinarily good at seeing things in motion and assigning meaning to them.</p> <p>We see:</p> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-text" data-lang="text"><span style="display:flex;"><span>a shape </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>another shape </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>movement </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>coordination </span></span></code></pre></div><p>and very quickly turn that into:</p>